Randy Travis performs on day 2 of the 2013 CMA Music festival at the LP Field in Nashville. / Wade Payne

by Staff and wire reports, USA TODAY

by Staff and wire reports, USA TODAY

NASHVILLE - Randy Travis' publicist says the country music singer is out of surgery after suffering a stroke in a Texas hospital. He still remains in critical condition.

Publicist Kirt Webster said Wednesday night that Travis, 54, suffered the stroke while he was being treated for congestive heart failure.

Webster said Travis underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

"His family and friends here with him at the hospital request your prayers and support," Webster's statement said.

Doctors said earlier Wednesday that Travis was in good health until three weeks before he was hospitalized, when he contracted a viral upper respiratory infection.

That information was released via video by physicians William Gray and Michael Mack of the Baylor Health Care System. Before Travis suffered the stroke, Mack said the singer's condition had stabilized "and he has shown signs of improvement."

The Grammy winner, best known for his hits Forever and Ever, Amen and Three Wooden Crosses, was admitted to a Texas hospital Sunday with viral cardiomyopathy, a condition that can lead to heart failure. The cardiomyopathy caused his heart to weaken and enlarge, so it could not pump properly. To assist his heart function, Travis received an IMPELLA peripheral left ventricular assist device.

On Monday, Travis' sister-in-law Teresa Trawick told People.com that his family has a history of heart problems. "(His mother) passed away at an early age with her heart, so it is like these boys are following right in their footsteps," she said.

Travis, who pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated in Texas earlier this year, was hospitalized in 2012 after a fight near a church in Plano, Texas.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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